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Blinken Says China is Attempting to Influence US Elections

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, meets with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, April 26, 2024, in Beijing, China. (Photo: Mark Schiefelbein/france24)

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By Andrea Murray

April 27, 2024
3:23 pm
Los Angeles, CA

Despite leader Xi Jinping’s earlier pledge not to do so, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken claimed that the country has evidence of Chinese attempts to ‘influence and arguably interfere’ with the forthcoming US elections. At the conclusion of a three-day trip to China, where the top US diplomat met with top Chinese officials, including Xi, for hours on end, Blinken made the remarks to CNN on Friday. During the trip, the two nations navigated a number of contentious issues, ranging from US tech controls to Beijing’s support for Moscow. Blinken stated that he reiterated a directive from President Joe Biden to President Xi during their November conference in San Francisco, asking him to refrain from meddling in the US presidential election of 2024. Xi had then promised that

At the conclusion of a three-day trip to China, where the top US diplomat met with top Chinese officials, including Xi, for hours on end, Blinken made the remarks to CNN on Friday. During the trip, the two nations navigated a number of contentious issues, ranging from US tech controls to Beijing’s support for Moscow.

Blinken stated that he reiterated a directive from President Joe Biden to President Xi during their November conference in San Francisco, asking him to refrain from meddling in the US presidential election of 2024. Xi had then promised that China would not follow through on this.

“We have seen, generally speaking, evidence of attempts to influence and arguably interfere, and we want to make sure that that’s cut off as quickly as possible,” Blinken said when asked whether China was violating Xi’s commitment to Biden so far.

“Any interference by China in our election is something that we’re looking very carefully at and is totally unacceptable to us, so I wanted to make sure that they heard that message again,” Blinken stated that there was worry that influence campaigns from China and other nations would take advantage of the social divisions already present in the US.
The latest in a series of high-level meetings that culminated in the Biden-Xi summit late last year, Blinken’s visit marks his second trip to the nation in less than a year. During these meetings, the two nations began to restore their severely reduced bilateral communications.

Based on its guiding principle of not meddling in the internal affairs of other nations, Beijing has stated time and again that it does not interfere in US elections. However, several nations, including Canada, have accused China or individuals thought to be connected to Beijing of meddling in internal affairs.

In addition, Blinken stated that he used the meeting to discuss the Biden administration’s concerns regarding China’s support for Russia’s defense industrial base and to emphasize that the US would impose additional sanctions on over 100 Chinese companies and individuals if this support continues.

The US claims that Russia is able to continue its assault on Ukraine by increasing the manufacturing of tanks, weapons, and armored vehicles, thanks to Chinese assistance.

Blinken said “What we said to China is this – we’re going to take actions we already have, and if it doesn’t stop, we’re going to have to take more action, and you can anticipate as well, that other countries will (too),” Additionally, he claimed that his Chinese colleagues had failed to recognize the contribution of these products to the conflict in Ukraine. Instead, they described it as commerce with Russia and asserted that Moscow’s prosperity was independent of China.